Peony Season, In All Its Glory: 5 Arrangement Ideas

At the flower shop where I work, every arrangement is made-to-order. Still, there are times when my own preferences influence the designs, like during last fall's "You are all getting nearly-black bouquets and I promise you will love it" phase. And then there are other times when the customers let me know in no uncertain terms, "We only care about peonies." It's peony season, y'all.

Peonies definitely play well with others, but on their own, they are spectacular. Whether you can 3 or 15 stems, a grouping of peonies will explode in a stunning fashion. But if you feel like mixing it up..

For this first arrangement, the customer requested something bright, colorful, and young, with peonies. I combined hot-coral peonies, hot-pink anemones, bright-yellow ranunculus, and bright green viburnum in a matte black vase. The black helped ground the colors a bit, and made the black centers of the anemones pop.

This second piece was for a customer who wanted something white/cream/green, with peonies, of course. Generally a grouping of just two flower types can look awkward, but I felt the cream peonies and green- & white-streaked double tulips combined perfectly. The double tulips are also explosive bloomers, so I knew they'd hold their own as the peonies opened dramatically.

The third bouquet was a little hand-held posy - I took this photo before I wrapped and ribboned it. It is a petite grouping of coral peonies, orange, yellow, & peach ranunculus, and orange, yellow & pink garden roses. Definitely feminine and just a little wild.

The fourth request was "pretty & bright with peonies". I made a long window box-style arrangement, filled with lots of pink peonies, yellow tulips, orange double tulips streaked with green, and fresh mint. I avoid using peonies with other scented flowers, but felt the bright, clean scent of the mint would set of their sweetness nicely.

I'm going to need your help for this last little posy. There are palest-pink peonies, of course, and a cloud of white sweet peas, but I don't know the name of the firework-esque grass or the little showers of white flowers with a blush of pale pink. Any ideas?

Are you filling your house with as many peonies as you can afford? Do you like to add them to arrangements, or let them shine on their own?